Dehradun, Jan 4 (PTI) The Uttarakhand government has procured over 3,100 metric tonnes of mandua at an MSP of Rs 4,200 per quintal from farmers so far in the current fiscal year through various cooperatives and farmers' associations in 2024, thanks to a renewed push to millet cultivation by the Centre and state governments.

A 68 per cent jump in MSP for mandua from Rs 2,500 per quintal in 2021-22 to Rs 4,200 per quintal in 2024-25 also led the farmers to resume mandua cultivation in Uttarakhand, as per an official release on Saturday.

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A large number of collection centres for mandua were set up last year at various places with the help of multipurpose primary agricultural cooperative societies and farmer producer organisations to buy Mandua from farmers in remote villages.

In 2020-21, the total number of these collection centres was 23, which was subsequently increased to 270 in 2024-25.

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The farmers were given a support price of Rs 42.46 per kg of mandua this fiscal year.

To support the purchase of mandua, the government provided an incentive of Rs 150 per quintal to farmers' unions and Rs 50,000 per centre to the multipurpose primary agricultural cooperative societies.

Mandua is traditionally cultivated in the terraced fields of Uttarakhand but until a few years ago it was a neglected crop due to no support from the government.

However, the joint efforts of the central and state governments to promote millet production has led to an increase in Mandua cultivation as well as the expansion of the area under Mandua cultivation in Uttarakhand.

"Mandua is traditionally grown in Uttarakhand. It is nutritious as well as organic. The demand for mandua has increased after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoted millet products. Therefore, the state government is emphasising on increasing production by purchasing mandua directly from the farmers. The positive results of this are now becoming visible," Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said.

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